I sold flat panel TVs for a few years and have to say that the plasmas are the best picture without question. It is true that your average plasma won't last as long as an LCD, but buy the time it burns up, the technology will be obsolete. Unless you will be using it 12 hours a day, I recommend the plasma, specifically the Pioneer or Sony. Last time I checked, the Pioneer is capable of producing more colors, but the Sony has a better display for non-HD channels. Also, don't hook that Time Warner ******** up to your plasma. The only thing that can do it justice is DirecTV.
my dell 4201c is the tits, especially for 1500 dollars. if you ever want to come over and see it, pm me.
From my experience, Plasma produces that best flat panel picture but lcd is not that far off. It really depends on lighting conditions. Top plasma manufacturers are: Fujitsu, NEC, Pioneer and Panasonic. Sony is the only lcd manufactuer that I would purchase.
The NEC plants are now owned by Pioneer they purchased them about 2 years ago. If you see a Sony plasma you are looking at something that is about 1-1.5 years old as they weren't even producing there own panels so they dropped out of the business and in the flat panel industry all they do is LCD now.
If I am not mistaken, there are only like 3 or 4 companies who make the glass for the plasma. After the glass, the major differences between brands are the video boards, software, etc.
I just saw the new Pioneer PDP-5070HD at Best Buy, and all I can say is WOW! The set is just amazing and the wife and I both fell in love with it. It is 50", all black, with amazing picture quality. The only bad thing is it runs $4500. But, I still think I may buy it.
